Capacitors

Nov 11, 2004 1 Replies

There are (at least) two important aspects of a caps ripple current rating. One involves how much internal resistance the capacitor has that generates heat as ripple current passes through it. The other is the capacitor's ability to get rid of this heat through its surface and its ability to handle the internal temperature rise this process requires. But if all other properties were exactly the same, it is a pretty safe bet that the one rated for higher ripple current would stand a rapid discharge process better.

It looks suitable for some rate of discharge to me. ;-)

Have you calculates what RMS ripple current (over a full cycle time) your circuit will produce? Maybe it is way more or less than these specs and you are worrying about nothing or way off base. Start with what you need.

The ultimate specification for rapid discharge applications is fusing current. This is the I^2*T that will melt the internal current path somewhere. When you find one with this kind of spec, you know they designed it for big pulses.

John Popelish

Am I right in thinking that it's the ripple current property of a capacitor that makes it suitable for discharge experiments? When I say discharge experiments I mean discharging the capacitor as quickly as possible (e.g. coilguns, railguns etc etc). Should the ripple current be as high as possible (e.g. 5A is better than 4A)?



I've seen some capacitors, which are described as suitable for discharge and pulse applications. But the ripple current seems to be smaller than other standard capacitors (of the same size and voltage). The capacitor has the following specs:


400V
1000uF Ripple Current 4.05A

Here's the data sheet of the capacitor if anyone's interested:



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Any ideas?


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